I adapted this recipe from the ABC website- they have really good recipes. In theory it's chicken, but you can use pretty much anything than can go in Indian food.

Ingredients:
1 medium onion- finely chopped
pinch saffron
a chunk of ginger
2 cloves of garlic
2 tsp coriander seeds, ground
1tsp cumin seed, ground
1/2tsp cinammon, ground
3 cardomom pods
3 dried chillies
3 or 4 cloves
1/4 cup of almond meal
250g chicken breast
a handful of chopped spinach (I actually used choy sum- any greens will do)
half a red capsicum, roughly chopped
1/4 cup of plain yoghurt


-Finely chop the onion and fry it in 2 tablespoons of neutral vegetable oil until the onions are translucent and just starting to turn golden.
- While the onion is going pop the saffron in a small bowl and just cover it with boiling water and leave it to steep.
- combine the ginger, garlic, coriander, cumin, cardomom, chillies, cloves and almond meal with 1/4 a cup of water and process until a paste forms.
- once the onions are ready add the spice paste and cook off until it is quite dry and the oil has separated from the rest of the paste.
- At this point add the chicken, saffron and a touch more water, and stir. Bring it up to a simmer and leave for around 10min.
- At this point add the vegies; although it varies depending on what vegies you're using and how long they take to cook.
- Once the korma is nearly done, add the yoghurt and stir through until everything is combined. Bring it up to a simmer again, season (I used salt and a touch of sugar because my yoghurt was very sour) and eat! I served it with almond basmati rice.

*hint: before adding the yoghurt mix it with a touch of cornflour and water. This stops the yoghurt from splitting.

This is what the meal looked like in the end. Yum!

Suggestions on what non-chicken options might work best?

reading this makes me hungry. . .

I like mushrooms.

Cauliflower or chickpeas also go well in indian dishes.

If you only have powdered cardamom, what's the best way to substitute?

Also, cornflour?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornflour (?)

I guess just a pinch of cardomom. You can always add a little more if you like, but be careful because cardomom has a really overpowering flavour. It depends on the ratio of seed to husk in your powder as to how strong it is... so it really is trial and error.

Cornflour is a thickening agent. I think it goes by cornstarch in the US. You can also substitute potato starch. But it's not necessary- you yoghurt may just look slightly curdled but taste fine.